Tales of 8 Heroes
by IamNotaBird
Summary: After the epic Cosmic Clash Showdown, Raimundo and the gang are ready for bigger and better things. New allies and new powers will bring them to greater strengths, but the Heylin side is more active than ever. Hannibal's got big plans, and it will take the full power of the Xiaolin Dragons to keep him from bringing chaos and death to the world.
1. Lesson

It was just after noon when the call came in.

Master Fung had been at his desk, looking over a few scrolls while he waited for phone to ring. He picked up immediately, and was greeted with a familiar voice.

"_Geia sou, _Master Fung."

"It's good to hear from you Simonides," the elder monk replied.

"You as well. Sorry I missed your call the other day, something urgent came up."

"It is no trouble, we have no great rush."

"Well-" Simonides started with a laugh. "Not yet at least. But that's not the point. Your students are progressing well?"

"Very well. Raimundo has improved by leaps and bounds- though he has some trouble with his leadership skills." Dojo popped his head into the room suddenly. Master Fung placed a hand over the mouthpiece and instructed the dragon to gather the young monks in the meditation hall.

"-and frankly, he'll be able to learn on the job. You said the others were all Wudai rank?"

"Yes. Kimiko, Clay and Omi have nearly mastered their elements. I'm going to test them today."

"Sounds good. I know my students are eager to get started. Call me back after and we'll see if they're ready."

The two exchanged goodbyes and hung up.

XSXSXSXS

The Xiaolin Dragons were lounging in the meditation hall, taking turns playing Kimiko's father's new game, Veggie Samurai. Omi held her PDA in one hand, and brandished a stylus with the other. Each swipe was precise and graceful, just missing the glowing red bombs. Raimundo whistled as his score passed five hundred.

"Looks like he's gonna beat your high score Dojo."

"No way," Dojo said defiantly. "I worked all day to get to six hundred- and this is his first time playing!"

"The little guy's a natural," Clay pointed out, Omi's scoring hitting five hundred and seventy.

"Wait til you try Color mode," Kimiko said. "There's all sorts of crazy veggies that give you power ups, your score can get really high."

"I got the high score on that mode. Over seven hundred," Rai boasted

Omi suddenly cried out as he struck a fast moving bomb. His final score read six hundred and twenty three.

"Yes! I am the greatest vegetable samurai of all!" Dojo groaned and hung his head

"May I have a try?" A willowy voice asked.

"Of course, Master _Fung_?!" Omi squeaked in surprise, then sheepishly handed Kimiko her PDA. The Dragons scrambled into the lotus position while the elder monk watched, a look halfway between amusement and annoyance on his face.

"Today you will be tested on a very intricate aspect of your elements. It is a skill that you have already been exposed to, in part, though to use it to it's fullest extent requires absolute focus."

"So, you're saying we've done this before?" Kimiko asked.

"Not exactly," Master Fung replied. "You've been exposed to aspects of it." When he received nothing but blank stairs, he elaborated. "Whenever you use the Shen Gong Wu, you can feel a strange sensation, no?"

"Do you mean that tingly, shocky feeling?" Raimundo offered.

"Precisely. That tingly feeling is magic, and your bodies are picking up on it. One who is constantly surrounded by magic begins to pick up on it, much like Dojo's ability to sense Shen Gong Wu."

"So, you are teaching us to sense Shen Gong Wu?" Omi asked hopefully.

"No," the little monk deflated somewhat. "To sense Shen Gong Wu is nearly impossible. Dojo is a dragon, and therefore more sensitive to magic. I will be teaching you to see using this sense. It is called, second sight, and using the same principle for sensing magic, you will also be able to 'see' with your element."

"That'd be mighty helpful for fightin' in th' dark," Clay reflected.

"Close your eyes, and listen very carefully." The Dragons obeyed, taking deep, easy breaths. "I want each of you to think of your element. See it in your mind. The way it moves, the way it feels. You must know it deep in your core."

Raimundo took a deep breath, focusing on the feeling of air entering and leaving his body. He imagined standing in a field, wind surging around him. He could almost hear the sound of his Shoku robes flapping in the gusts.

"Keep this feeling in mind, but now, focus on my words." Master Fung paused a beat before continuing. "You are in the woods. You have been blinded by a curse and cannot see anything. Enemies are all around you. You must feel them with your element. Clay and Raimundo, you must feel the _environment_ in order to pinpoint their location. Omi and Kimiko, you must feel the people _themselves_. You must sense the heat in their body, the water flowing within every person."

A shiver ran down his spine, and suddenly Raimundo wasn't in the meditation hall. He was in, what he assumed was, the woods. He could smell pine trees and hear the chirping of birds but just as Master Fung described, he was completely blind.

_Enemies are out there_, he thought. _I have to find them. _

He tried to hear them, but wherever they were, they were completely silent. He felt the wind rustle his hair and remembered what he was supposed to do. The Shoku Leader took a deep breath and thrust his arms out from his sides.

"Wudai Star- Wind!" The resulting whirlwind swirled throughout the invisible woods. Raimundo focused on the wind he expelled, envisioned how it moved around trees. Through the endless black, streams of white slowly became visible and parted around the trees. Raimundo realized he'd need more wind to be able to see fully. He clapped his hands together and slowly pulled them apart, sucking the wind into a tight ball. He thrust his hands into the air, releasing the condensed hurricane with a cry of, "Wind!"

White filled his surroundings, rushing around the formerly unseen people. In his few moments of vision, he saw the silhouettes of ten people. Three were perched on a tree branches, armed with what looked like bows. The other seven were varying distances from him, one was a mere foot to his left, armed with swords and axes. Raimundo jumped into a defensive stance only to feel a rush of motion, as though he were falling into the black nothingness. He suddenly felt the ground beneath his twisted legs and opened his eyes.

He was in the temple, sitting in the lotus position like nothing had happened. Clay was already awake beside him, legs out straight and leaning against a pillar.

"Did... that just happen?" Raimundo asked.

"It felt like hallucination," Clay replied. "But way more intense." A gasp to the far right signaled that Kimiko had woken up, and Omi woke up mere seconds later.

"Master Fung, what _was_ that?" Omi asked, eyes wide.

"Just what you think," the old master replied. "An illusion. I couldn't put you into that kind of situation in reality because you would likely be injured. This way, it is much safer."

"A bit of a warnin' mighta been nice…" Clay grumbled.

"I apologize. Next time, I will be sure that you are completely aware of the exercise before we begin. For now, you may return to your chores."

"I think I'd rather fight invisible ninjas," Raimundo muttered as he lead the other warriors out of the hall. As soon as they were out of sight, Master Fung sighed deeply and laid on the floor. Dojo slithered into view, carrying a tray with a teacup, teapot and wireless phone balanced on top. He set the tray down beside his elderly friend and began to pour him a cup of tea.

"Thank you, Dojo. I had forgotten how much energy this spell required."

"Maybe wait a few days before doing that again?" Dojo suggested, eye glistening with concern.

"I will," Master Fung promised as he took the phone. He dialed, and the call was answered in the first ring. "Simonides, I've just finished with the Dragons. They passed with flying colors. Have your students come tomorrow."

XSXSXSXS

On a small island off the southern coast of Greece, Kyros Simonides leaned back in his chair and gazed out the window. His thoughts went to his students. They had been training for an entire year, preparing for the day they would join the Dragons. He knew they would face impossible challenges, especially now that the Shen Gong Wu had become active. They Heylin were getting restless. Master Fung had agreed, his students arrival was well timed. The Dragons would need their full power to stop Hannibal or Chase Young for good.

A sudden fluttering noise snapped Kyros out of his reverie. A small magpie had landed outside his window and on the wooden fence.

"Hello Mr. Magpie, how are the wife and children?"

The magpie cried out suddenly, then frantically flew off as a small… thing whizzed past it and crashed into a nearby tree. Kyros ducked his head out of the window and saw a brown bat lying on the ground, twitching in agony. He watched the bat squirm and struggle for a few moments, conflicted as to whether or not he should help the poor creature. Finally, he hopped out of the open window, a small feat considering the office was on the ground floor, and knelt down to help.

Before he could touch it, the bat shuddered and died.


	2. Allies

Kimiko, Raimundo, and Omi crouched outside the kitchen, sniffing deeply and whispering amongst themselves.

"It doesn't smell spicy, that's a good sign, right?" Raimundo asked.

"I don't think he'd do that again," Kimiko replied. "Especially not after those 'mystery bites'." The three shuddered at the memory of burning mouths and upset stomachs. Clay tended to cook with his family's recipes, which usually included lots of heat and questionable meats.

"Do you think we can make it to dinner by eating the fruit in the garden?"

"That could work," Rai said, rubbing his chin. "Does the peach tree have fruit yet?"

"No," a voice said. The monks turned around to see Dojo approaching, Ancient Scroll of the Shen Gong Wu in hand. "But the pear and apple trees are. You can grab one on the way out."

"What's the Wu, Dojo?" Kimiko asked. The little dragon pulled the scroll open and set it down on the floor.

"The Lai Min Shield," the ink drawing sprang to life at his words, depicting a man holding a round shield. "It's a pretty nifty Wu, able to absorb attacks and bounce them back at your opponent." The ink man raised the Shield as arrows were fired at him. The disappeared into the Shield, then shot back out towards the enemies.

"That's a good one. Jack could certainly use it." Raimundo commented.

"I don't expect anyone else to come after it," Kimiko said. "Maybe Wuya, if she can sneak past Chase."

"Dojo, where is Master Fung?" Omi asked. "He is usually here to explain the Shen Gong Wu's powers with you."

"He has some business to do. Boring monk type stuff." The way his eyes shifted from side to side told them he was hiding something. Dojo was a notoriously bad secret keeper, having ruined nearly everyone's birthday presents at one time or another. Before the warriors could ask him what the surprise was, the dragon blurted out, "Grab Clay and meet me in the courtyard!" and ran off as fast as he arms could carry him.

"Care to bet how long it will take him to spill the beans?" Raimundo offered with a quirk of his eyebrow. He pulled a candy bar from his pocket and held it out to the group.

"I'll bet two hours," Kimiko said. "I've got a bag of strawberry gummies in my room to wager."

"I shall also bet my box of cookies that Dojo will not topple the beans."

"Ha! Good luck with that, chrome dome. I bet he won't even last the trip to the Wu."

The three exchanged hand shakes and retrieved Clay from the kitchen.

XSXSXSXS

Despite Raimundo's pestering, Dojo managed to hold his tongue all the way to the forests of Maine. The trip had taken nearly a half hour, giving Kimiko plenty of time to win the bet. Dojo physically held his mouth shut as Kimiko tempted him with half of Omi's cookies in return for letting the cat out of the bag.

"Aw jest leave 'im alone, Kim." Clay said as he rolled over a large rock. "Th' Wu's a bit more important at the moment."

"I guess you're right." Kimiko admitted with a shrug. "Besides, I've got the whole trip back to weasel it out of him." Dojo cowered at her smug grin. As Kimiko was turning to start her search, a low buzzing noise caught her ear. She groaned loudly as Jack flew down into the clearing with nearly fifty plaid Jack-Bots.

"Congrats Jack, you finally designed a robot made to make us throw up."

"Don't be hating on my Lumberjack-Bots! Get it? Lumber_jack_," the self proclaimed evil genius doubled over laughing in mid-air while the warriors gathered beneath him. "Ah, lumberjack. I kill me. Now, where were we?" Jack pressed a button on his watch, causing the robots' arms to retract into their bodies and come back out armed with axes. "Lumberjack-Bots, turn them into firewood!"

"We'll see who's turning whom into ashes." Kimiko quipped. "Wudai Mars- Fire!" Her hands became engulfed in balls of flame that she threw at the flannel clad robots, destroying each on impact.

"Wudai Crater- Earth!" Clay drove his heel into the ground, sending shards of earth flying at the army of bots. Most of the shards missed, but ten found their mark and ripped through the robots, sending them crashing to the ground.

"Wudai Neptune- Ice!"Omi created similar shards and fired them from his hands, taking down fifteen. The remaining Lumberjack-Bots descended on the group, who jumped into defensive stances. Before the Dragons could throw a single punch, a shadow fell over them. Four people dropped from the sky and landed on the bots, destroying them on impact. The strangers leapt out of the Lumberjack-Bots range, leaving the automatons turning back and forth between the two groups, clearly confused as to whom they should attack. In that moment of hesitation, both the Dragons and strangers charged, catching the robots off guard.

Jack watched helplessly from above as his minions were torn apart, then realized he had the perfect opportunity to find the Lai Min Shield. He buzzed around the clearing peering into the branches of trees until he spotted it lodged between two close together branches. The Shield was perfectly round and two feet in diameter. It was mostly blue and translucent, save for the metal center that the handle attached to. The handle was just in reach and, after a few tugs, Jack pulled it loose.

"Ah ha! I win this round Xiaolin lose-"

A sudden blast of wind slammed him into the body of the tree and sent the Shield flying out of his grip. It landed between the warriors and the strangers. With the action over, they finally got a good look at them and realized they were teenagers. There were two boys and two girls of varying ethnicities. The smallest was a girl with thick black hair, pulled into a loose bun. Her skin was quite tan, and she wore a high waisted skirt with a white blouse and riding boots. The other girl had copper red hair and fair skin. She wore an off the shoulder purple sweater with almond colored capris and white slip on shoes.

The smaller of the two boys had very dark skin and kept his dreaded hair in a short ponytail. He wore a black tee shirt and tan shorts with skateboard shoes. The other boy was polar opposite the first. He was tall, nearly Clay's height, and thin as a rail. He had blond hair and blue eyes, with skin lighter than the red headed girl. He wore a light green polo shirt with jeans and converse that matched his shirt.

Omi stepped out from behind his comrades and bowed before the strangers.

"We thank you for your assistance, as unnecessary as it was, but this shield belongs to us."

"I wouldn't quite say that," the blond boy said. "It doesn't belong to you personally. It belongs to the Xiaolin."

"Are you guys Xiaolin too?" Kimiko asked, eyebrows raised.

"We're from a temple in Greece," the small girl chirped. "We were about to leave for the temple in China when our dragon sensed the Shen Gong Wu. We figured we'd meet you there."

"That must be the surprise," Raimundo said to himself. To the newcomers he asked, "Are you guys coming to train with us?"

A chorus of positive replies came from the other group and Omi suddenly jumped up.

"That means I win the bet!"

"What?!" Kimiko shouted.

"Dojo did not tell us, so I win the treats!"

Kimiko and Raimundo groaned in unison.

"Did y'all say you had a dragon?" Clay piped, steering the conversation back on track.

"W-Well, not _our_ dragon," the redhead stammered. "She lives at the temple."

"_She?_" Dojo popped out of Omi's shirt. "Been a while since I've seen a lady dragon."

"She's up there," the blond boy pointed to the sky where a large white dragon circled the clearing. He brought his fingers to his lips and whistled sharply. The dragon descended slowly, flapping her wings in long strokes. She was as big as Dojo in his true form and covered not in scales, but in feathers. Small ones that clung to her body, long ones on her wings, and yellow ones running down her spine and in tufts above her green eyes. Her belly, chest, and nose were covered in gray plates.

"What an intriguing dragon," Omi said, eyes wide with awe. "I have never seen one with feathers."

"I'm a half breed," she said in a light voice. "Part feathered serpent, my name is Thalia."

"Pleasure to meet you, Thalia." Dojo said, taking her one claw in both of his hands. He grew back to his full size and motioned to the sky. "I'll lead the way back." The new students climbed onto Thalia while Raimundo retrieved the Lai Min Shield and followed the Dragons onto Dojo.

XSXSXSXS

Master Fung was waiting for them in the courtyard when they touched down. After ensuring that the new students had their luggage, Thalia left for Greece, much to Dojo's disappointment.

"It is good to meet you all," Master Fung said with a kind smile. "Your Master has told me much about you. I assume you have all been introduced?"

"Actually no," Raimundo realized.

"Whoops, that's our bad," the small girl smiled at the Dragons. "Hi, I'm Anavi Gohain."

"My name is Nikolai Eberhardt," the tall blond said. "But nearly everybody calls me Nik."

"Izak van Hulst," the smaller boy said with a nod.

"I'm Sylvie Leland," the redhead said with a small bow.

"It is good to know your names, new friends," Omi said as he approached them. "I am Omi, Xiaolin Dragon of Water." He bowed deeply and turned to the other Dragons. "And that's Kimiko, Raimundo and Clay."

"We can introduce ourselves you know," Raimundo said, clearly irritated. "And if anyone had to introduce us all, it should be me."

"I apologize, Raimundo. I merely thought it may be faster if I introduce us all along with my self."

Rai muttered something under his breath, but let the subject drop.

"Clay, would you mind showing our new trainees to their rooms?" Master Fung asked. "You can bring them to the dining room when they are settled."

"Not a problem, sir." Clay replied. He motioned for the group to follow him, leaving Kimiko, Omi and Raimundo alone with Master Fung.

"Oh man, the poor newbies have to eat Clay's cooking." Rai winced.

"They're gonna run for the hills," Kimiko added.

"Not exactly," Master Fung said. "Clay's stew had a bit of an accident."

"What kind of accident?" Raimundo asked, eyebrow cocked. They followed Master Fung into the kitchen to find Clay's mystery stew splattered over the stovetop and nearby walls.

"I believe Clay neglected to reduce the heat when he left."

"Yikes," was Rai's opinion.

Kimiko raised her hands in mock surrender and said, "I'm not cleaning that up."

"Clay will clean it," Fung assured her. "Luckily for all of us, I managed to get together a plan B."

Plan B turned out to be take out pizza, four whole pizzas each with different toppings to accommodate everyone's tastes., with garden salad and various brands of soda.

"I like Plan B!" Raimundo declared, grinning from ear to ear. It was a rare occasion to eat fast food, it had only happened one other time, and Master Fung didn't allow soda at the temple.

"It is a special day, so I decided you should enjoy a special meal."

"Hey," the group turned to find Clay and the others standing in the entrance. "What happened t' mah roadkill stew?" Master Fung lead Clay out of the dining hall, presumably to show him the mess he had unwittingly made.

"Did he say roadkill stew?" Anavi asked as she sat down.

"Yes. We have truly avoided an arrow," Omi said, snagging a slice of vegetarian pizza.

"Dodged a bullet," Kimiko corrected.

"Aw, c'mon now," Clay said as he and Master Fung returned. "It ain't made with _real_ roadkill. It's jist called that 'cause you pound the meat 'til its flat and tender." His expression was sour, but lightened drastically as he poured himself a glass of rootbeer. Master Fung sat at the head of the table while the monks at and chatted amongst themselves. Omi babbled on to Izak about how amazing soda tasted and how it bubbled while Izak nodded politely. Kimiko talked to the girls about the total lack of females and how happy she was to have girls to connect with while Raimundo, Clay and Nikolai discussed the sports they had played before coming to their respective temples. The old teacher waited for a lull in the conversation, and took it upon himself to speak up.

"Young monks, you are probably wondering why we are bringing in new students,"

"I wasn't until you said that," Rai replied. "But why now? There'll be a huge gap in strength."

"Hey, it's not like we've been sitting on our butts this whole time," Nik argued. "We've been training too."

"That's right," Master Fung said. "You see, the original Xiaolin Dragons were actual dragons with great elemental power. They became human and, when they died, their powers were passed down to a new set of humans. However, it was found that humans couldn't control the elements like dragons, and so the power was split into eight elements."

"Eight?!" Omi gasped. "There are eight Xiaolin Dragons?!"

"Not quite. Only the Dragons, like yourselves, had natural born control over one of the primary elements of Fire, Water, Earth, and Wind. The secondary elements of Lightning, Wood, Metal, and Sound were given _by_ the Dragons, to select warriors called the Guardians. It is the duty of the Guardians to protect their Dragon and bear the secondary element. When the four of you first performed the Dragon X Kumei Formation, I sent word out to the Masters of various temples. Their master, Kyros Simonides, was selected to find suitable Guardians, and picked them."

"We're pretty special," Anavi said with a playful grin.

"So," Omi started, eyes closed in concentration. "We are to pick one of them, and give them our second element?"

"Yes. Your element is dormant inside of you and will be transferred to whomever you decide to be your Guardian. I would like the eight of you to spend this next week working together, training together and getting to know one another. At the end of the week, you will decide upon your Guardian."

The future Guardians and Dragons exchanged looks, as if each group were sizing the other up. Nikolai smiled to himself and leaned back in his chair.

"This should be an interesting week,"

XSXSXSXS

The crow closed its eye as the projection ended, leaving Chase and Wuya in silence.

"Great," Wuya said. "Another set of brats to deal with."

"The monks are improving by leaps and bounds," Chase noted. "Once they give the Guardians their power, they will gain even greater strength."

"What should we do?" Wuya asked. Chase smirked and retired to his marble throne.

"For now, we wait. We don't know anything about these warriors. It's quite possible one or more of them could be persuaded to join our side."

"Using their own powers against them, how deliciously evil." Wuya leaned down to purr the last words into his pointed ear. He glanced at her, his reptilian eyes briefly meeting her swirling green ones, before standing up and punching a nearby wall. A small spider-like robot fell to the floor, kicking furiously in an attempt to get back on to its feet. Chase let it squirm for a moment before crushing it beneath his foot.

"Worm," he spat.

XSXSXSXS

In his basement, Jack Spicer winced as Chase crushed his Spi-bot, filling his headset with obnoxious static. The young genius pulled the headset down so it hung around his neck and turned to the visitor sitting on his work table.

"Well?" Hannibal asked, running a tentacle down Ying Ying's back.

"Uh," Jack stammered, thoroughly intimidated by the bean. He had broken into his lab and was waiting for him when he returned empty handed from the Wu hunt. The demon demanded he use his robots to spy on Chase, who had somehow learned about the newcomers before he had. "Ch-chase said something about the Xiaolin Losers getting stronger. He called the new guys 'Guardians'."

Hannibal's eyes widened briefly before fixing Jack with a cold stare.

"What else did he say?"

"He said he wanted to wait and watch the new guys to see if they could be turned, and that's it, I swear!"

The bean paused to consider this. These newcomers had trained in secrecy, away from the recent action between Xiaolin and Heylin. It was likely none of them new of his past, or his power. He would need to watch them to be sure, but a plan was coming together.

"I thank you for your assistance, boy." He bowed, but the wicked smile on his face told Jack that there was no respect behind it. Hannibal hopped on to Ying Ying's back and flew out a small open window, leaving Jack in the silence of his basement.

"If the Xiaolin Losers are gonna get stronger," he thought aloud. "I'm gonna need backup."


End file.
